HIV Stops with Me campaign debuts in New York (14948)

New York State health commissioner Antonia C. Novello, Gay Men's Health Crisis, Better World Advertising, community leaders, and people living with HIV have launched the New York leg of the HIV Stops with Me campaign that targets HIV-positive individuals with messages urging them to not expose others to the virus. The campaign, already up and running in Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, San Diego, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Calif., and Oregon, promotes responsibility and self-esteem in messages using the real voices of people living with the virus. The official launch of the New York campaign took place at the offices of the New York State AIDS Institute in New York City.

The New York campaign consists of 10 volunteer spokesmodels--seven from New York City and three from Buffalo--selected directly from communities most impacted by HIV. Spokesmodels include women in recovery from substance use, a bisexual male, a transgender female, a newly diagnosed younger gay man, and a long-term survivor--all making a personal commitment to educating others and preventing further infections by sharing their experiences. The campaign will include print ads, Web site banner ads, posters in New York City subways and bus shelters, and postcards and posters at selected venues in New York City and Buffalo.

As the campaign evolves, members of other affected communities in New York will join and be represented in the campaign, organizers say.

"This campaign embodies GMHC's philosophy of getting HIV in people's minds before it is in their bodies," said Ana Oliveira, executive director of Gay Men's Health Crisis, one of the partners in the campaign. "We commend the campaign's spokesmodels for publicly sharing their lives so that others can save theirs."

The campaign can be seen online at www.hivstopswithme.org.